Refrigerating apparatus



July 12, 1932.

R W. DAVENPORT REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Feb.. 7. 1928 IVNVENTOR.Rev/7mm h/flarven oor'f A TTORNEY.

Patented July 1 2, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RANSOM W. DAVENPORT,013 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO PNEUMATIC TOOL COMPANY, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY REFRIGERATING APPARATUSApplication filed February 7, 1928. Serial No. 252,447.

trolling the feeding of the products of the condenser into theevaporator.

' Heretofore it has been proposed to utilize porous means for feedingcondensate in conventional refrigerating systems operating op thereversed Glausius-Rankine cycle, but

such porous means were kept constantly submerged in liquid and werearranged to form the liquid seal which is essential to the operation ofthe systems of that type.

One object of the present invention is to provide improved means forfeeding vaporgas mixtures as well as liquids in systems of the vapor-gastype. Another object is to utilize a single member for several importantfunctions. Other objects will be apparent from the detail descriptionwhich follows.

In order to illustrate the invention one concrete embodiment thereof isshown in the accompanying drawing the single view of which shows thefeeding device or expansion memher in vertical section and indicatesdiagrammatically the remaining elements of a closed cycle refrigeratingsystem.

In the drawing a pump or compressor A withdraws refrigerant vapor andgas from the evaporator B and discharges the same at higher pressure andtemperature into a condenser C, whence it is returned through expansiondevice D to the evaporator. Elements A, B, and C which are indicateddiagrammatically may be of any suitable or desired type. Since thesystem is intended to operate on the vapor-gas principle a charge ofrefrigerant, such for example as sulphur dioxide or methylene chlorideis put in evaporator B and the remainder of the system is,

arranged to contain an inert and insoluble gas, such as air or nitrogen.

The expansion or feeding device D to which the present invention moreparticularly relates is arranged to utilize for the direct feeding ofthe products of the condenser to the evaporator a porous member 1.

Instead of submerging the porous member in the liquid refrigerant as hasheretofore been suggested and maintaining it in the submergedstate toform the liquid seal, which is essential to the operation of s stems ofthe conventional reversed Clausiusankine type, the present feedingdevice is so arranged that only a portion of the porous member 1 is incontact with the liquid whereby provision is made for a feeding throughsaid memher the gaseous as well as the liquid products of the condenserto cause the system to operate on the vapor-gas principle.

Accordingly, feeding device d comprises a hollow casing 2 forming achamber within which is disposed the porous member in the form of a wallor partition, the chamber being closed by a cover 3 secured to casing 2in any suitable manner as by screws 4, a gasket 5 being interposedbetween the contacting portions to prevent leakage. The porous partition1 issubstantially vertically disposed within casing 2 in the operatingposition of device D, extends transversely across the chamber providedtherein, and is by preference disposed adjacent the portion of theeasing remote from cover 3 so as to divide the chamber into a relativelysmall space 6 and a relatively large space 7. Large space 7 is used asthe inlet chamber and has an inlet port 8 intermediate the top andbottom of the device and connected to condenser C. Small space 6 formsthe outlet chamber and has an outlet connection 9 from the bottomthereof extending to evaporator B.

Partition member 1 may be of any desirable material which issufiiciently porous for the purpose, suitable substances being 'alundunand unglazed earthenware. The partition may be in any desired form, suchas a cone, a cup, or a disc. The disc form disclosed in the drawing ispreferred. Any suitable Y means may be used for maintaining disc 1 inplace, such as one or more spring retainers 10 interposed between thedisc and cover 3.

The. area and porosity of porous partition or direct contact with theliquid condensate while the remainder is in the direct contact 'with thegaseous products of condenser C. A

desirable arrangement provides for approximately of the area of the discto be contacted by the liquid and the inlet port 8 should be positionedaccordingly.

With a feeding device of the described type, it will be obvious that theproportions gas type. It is also to be noted that the feeding memberitself acts as a filter for the liquid.

While the invention has been herein shown and described in what is nowconsidered to be its preferred form, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the specific details thereof, but covers allchanges, modification, and adaptations within the scope of the appendedclaims. I claim as my invention: 1..A refrigerating system comprising anevaporator, a compressor, and a condenser connected togetherto form aclosed cycle system utilizing a a working substance a volatile liquidand an inert and insoluble gas, and means interposed between saidcondenser and said evaporator and providing a porous wall disposed at anangle to the horizontal and arranged to pass simultaneously both theliquid and the gaseous products of said condenser, thereby to cause saidsystem to operate on the vapor-gas principle.

2. A refrigerating system comprising an evaporator, a compressor, and acondenser connected together to form a closed cycle system utilizing asa working substance a volatile liquid and an inert and insoluble gas,means disposing a porous wall between said condenser and saidevaporator, and means maintaining both the liquid and the gaseousproducts of said condenser in contact with said wall during the normaloperation of said system.

3. A refrigerating system comprising an evaporator, a compressor, and acondenser connected together to form a closed cycle system utilizing asa working substance a volatile liquid and an inert and insoluble gas,and a. feeding device interposed between said condenser and saidevaporator, said device providing a member of porous material in asubstantially vertical position and normally having the liquid productsof said condenser in contact with only a portion of said member.

4. A refrigerating system comprising an evaporator, a compressor, and acondenser connected together to form a closed. cycle system utilizing asa working .substance a volatile liquid and an inert and insoluble gas,and a feeding device between said condenser and said evaporatorcomprising a disk of porous material whose area and porosity bears sucha relation to the capacity of said compressor and which is so disposedthat the gaseous products of said condenser are in direct contact with agreater portion of the area of said disk than the liquid products.

5. A refrigerating system comprising an evaporator, a compressor, and acondenser connected together to form a closed cycle system utilizing asa working substance a volatile liquid and an inert and insoluble gas,and expansion means including a porous member disposed at an angle tothe horizontal and interposed between said condenser and said evaporatorfor feeding the liquid and gaseous products of the former simultaneouslyand in inversely varying amounts to the latter.

6. The. combination with a refrigeration system of the closed cycle typehaving an evaporator, a compressor, and a condenser arranged to operateon the vapor-gas principle of an expansion device for feeding vapor-gasand liquid from said condenser to said evaporator comprising asubstantially vertically disposed porous partition and means formaintaining both vapor-gas and liquid from said condenser in contactwith said partition.

7. An expansion device for refrigerating system comprising a casing anda cover for providing a fluid tight chamber, a partition member ofporous material within said chamber and resilient meansengaged by saidcover for maintaining said partition in place.

8. An expansion device for refrigerating systems comprising a casing anda cover for providing a fluid tight chamber, said casing having an inletand an outlet, and means for passing simultaneously from said inlet tosaid outlet both gas and liquid including a partition of porous materialsubstantially vertically disposed in said chamber between said inlet andoutlet.

9. An expansion device for refrigeratingsystems comprising a casing anda cover for providing a fluid tight chamber, said casing having an inletand an outlet, and means for passing simultaneously from said inlet tosaid outlet both gas and liquid includin a partition of porous materialin said cham r between said inlet and outlet, said partition beingsubstantially vertically disposed in the operating position of saiddevice and closely adjacent said outlet to provide an inlet space oflarge capacity within said casing.

10'. An expansion device for refrigerating systems comprising a casingand a cover for providing a fluid tight chamber a disk of porousmaterial extending transversely across said chamber in substantialparallelism with said cover, and spring retaining means interposedbetween said disk and said cover for retaining the former in place.

11. An expansion device for refrigerating systems comprising a casingand a cover for providing a fluid tight chamber, and a disk of porousmaterial vertically disposed and extending transversely across saidchamber adjacent the end of said casing remote from said cover forpassing simultaneously both gas and liquid, said casing having an outletin the end wall thereof beyond said disk and an inlet on the cover sideof the disk intermediate the top and bottom of the casing.

12. An expansion device for refrigerating systems comprising a casin anda cover for providing a fluid tight cham er, and a disk of porousmaterial vertically disposed and extending transversely across saidchamber ad- 1' acent the end of said casing remote from said cover, saidcasing having an outlet in the end wall thereof beyond said disk and aninlet on the cover side of the disk intermediate the top and bottom ofthe casing, and, spring retaining means interposed between said coverand said disk for holding the latter in place.

Signed by me at Detroit, in the county of Wayne, and State of Michiganthis second day of February, 1928.

RANSOM W. DAVENPORT.

